Gracious Blessings....

Well let me first thank all of you for the prayers, calls, emails and personal, physical support. It has truly been a great encouragement to know that our family and friends are storming the Throne of Jesus on our family's behalf. I believe that the Lord has heard the prayers of His children and has been so gracious to sustain us through some very difficult times.

Over the last few days, I have been able to take note of just some of the special ways the Lord has shown himself merciful and compassionate. The first was the morning of of the surgery. I was able to wake up before the kids (never happens) and read the word and pray. I just happen to be going through 2 Corinthians and this was the last 2 verses of the chapter for the day. "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things seen but to the things unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 4:17,18 That helped start the day with an eternal perspective and hope. Next was that Ben was not as fussy as I thought he was going to be because of the fasting. The next blessing was when I had to help the nurse hold Ben down while they masked him with the anesthesia. I started to sing Jesus Loves Me to him and the nurses started to sing along. Thas was soo comforting I can't even tell you. Then the Lord allowed us to have family and friends ( who have also been through major surgery with their children and were familiar with the hospital) to sit and support us while we waited for Ben to be finished. The surgery went perfect. Ben had a very hard time in recovery but daddy was there to comfort him. The next blessing was getting a room all to ourselves! Then Ben was blessed with visitors, balloons and toys!! Oh and the movie Ratatoullie that we had to watch a billion times! The next day, a special dog came to visit Ben and then Mike Goth from the Chargers!! Ben said "Go Chargers!" That was special. Later, as we were leaving the hospital, about 5 more chargers came and Ben got to take pictures with some of them too.

Well we are home now, and I must say it is more difficult than we expected. However, we feel the Lord"s sustaining grace. Praise the Lord we didn't have to go back to the ER and that Ben finally got some sleep. He had been awake over 15 hours and waking up with continuous anxiety attacks and terror. We have never prayed for mercy and wisdom for our child like we did last night and the Lord graciously answered us! He is in better spirits this morning and we are thankful.My mother is staying here as well and she has been a huge help. This is hard for her too because Ben is her "king of the castle!" Oh, and Ben only wants to watch this one particular sermon by Loui Gigglio from the How Great is Our God Tour about the Glory of God in the universe and affliction. We have literally watched it over 10 times. What a blessing it is to see my baby boy delight in the glory of what God made (they show pictures of planets and stars and crosses) while the message is for those carrying heavy burdens with the emphasis on Isaiah 39:31 Praise the Lord for His constant encouragement!!! We will try to keep you posted as much as possible. Here are a few prayer requests.....

1.Greatfulness in all things
2.No bed sores
3.Patience and grace for us
4.Proper healing
5.Ben's emotions (fear of sleep, alone, bored etc.)
6.Physical comfort for ben

Thank you all again. WE LOVE YOU!